How to get a job (or not)

[rah]

The one paying always has the hand.
The only exception is when the candidate is in the top 1% of ability. (hint: the odds are you're not in the 1%)

 

[Synobun]

Screw this, I'm better off sucking off the Government's bank. Declare disability if I have to.

I cannot take internships/volunteer positions given the fact that they don't pay anything. I need something that would pay money. Again, the clock is ticking for me and I cannot afford to waste time with internships/volunteering at my age. If I were a teenager or in my 20s and still in college, I'd consider it.

Nice attitude.

Other people seem to manage that just fine. The trick is to multi-task. If you volunteer somewhere, it should not be for 40 hours a week. An internship should not be 40 hours a week. You do something that pays the bills while you work towards specialization in something. The more experience you possess in a specific skill, the more authority you control in terms of salary and whether or not someone would want to hire you.

Of course, you can be as talented as you want to be and it won't matter if the moment someone provides a suggestion to you your response is to say you should lie and claim disability so you can just not bother with the whole thing.

 

[GenMarshall]

How do you want to be spending your time?

Not stuck in a job that pays barely above minumum wage. I don't want to be in a job where I'm constantly lifting heavy objects that's beyond my lifting capacity (I'd rather do that at a gym where I'm not under pressure at work). Not chasing down products in a store that has "no location" or we don't have it, yet the damn customer ordered it and wants it. Ideally, I'd rather spend my time working with computers. Not programming them, but maintaining them. Even if skilled enough, a network of em.

What kinds of activities do you enjoy doing?

Most of the activities I enjoy doing mainly revolves around computers. Mostly playing video games, working with Source Filmmaker, GIMP, and browsing the internet. I sill have a goal in mind to build my own gaming PC.

Are you hands on or a thinker?

Mainly hands on

Are you a planner?

Sort of, since I've mentioned earlier I plan on building my own gaming PC in the future. Though each year I do go back and modify my plan a bit whenever new hardware/OS is released.

Are you arts and humanities or sciences?

Both, but on the practical side (knowing history and liberal arts majors have poor job prospects), lean more on the science side. Math, I'm alright at algebra, but you can keep calculus.

Do you work best alone, as part of a team, or with customers?

I had my share with dealing with customers and really don't want to deal with them if there's gonna be an irate customer that would jepordize my job if they complain to the manager/supervisor. I don't mind friendly customers, I just don't want to risk my job to an irate customer.

Lately, I had contemplated on going into the IT field (I know it's a broad subject), relating to administering and/or maintaining computers. Though I gotten very much discouraged since:
A) I don't know where to start since my knowlage only comes from what I've read online or watched on YouTube.
B) I don't have any sort of certifications and very hesitant to spend any kind of money to be certified, only to fail on a test.
C) Most companies would rather want a young pup, not a 30 something.
D) Internships that I've seen on job boards like indeed.com are more geared towards college students who are still in school working on their degree. Not for career changers like myself (that is if I can even call it a career change when my own career hasent even gone off the ground since 2007).
E) Would it pay enough for me to have my own place before I turn into a 40 year old virgin?

 

[whyidie]

Thanks for the advice from me also, but I ended up going for the collections job anyway, because I really needed the job sooner rather than later.

Will it turn out to be a Poor Life Choice? Quite possibly. But, advantage of not being a career job, if it sucks I can bail with a week's notice.

You made the right choice. In the other job it sounds like the people who call you expect you to help them. Awful.

Collections is fun because there is no expectation of helping people. Also, hopefully you are collecting from corporations and not individuals. If its corporations you can be a complete jerk...because you know, its business!

If its individuals that can and likely will be depressing if you hope to make a career of it. But since you're a short timer you don't care if they actually pay! You make the calls, do the followup work. Be pleasant, understanding, and in the end if they can't pay because aunts mother lost her foot, send your condolences and ask about next month.

Well, I actually don't think that's true, but if it was, what would it imply? Answer: that managers don't do anything except take credit for what other people do

The poor ones, sure. Or worse the ones who feel like they need to get involved otherwise they don't feel like they are contributing.
Anyone who says "so and so works for me" and they don't own the company ? Never work with them.

People on my team are on my team. And I'm on their team. They call to consult. I provide a buffer from executive overreach. I ask them how I can help. Often times the answer is "I'm good". We get on famously.

 

[civvver]

hmm my problem is not how to get a job, I have one and I like it a lot as far as jobs go. I'm a software engineer. Flexible hours, lots of personal freedom, area I enjoy, commute is good. paid overtime. The problem is I want more pay of course, but I'm not really sure how to justify a raise. I started as an intern in 2003 and full time in 2006. Along with standard 3-4% annual raises I got a 35% raise in 2010 because I was drastically underpaid, went out and got a competing offer to prove it to HR. My bosses have always loved me and lobbied to get me better raises but sometimes it's hard to get past those hard liners in HR with stupid policies like no one gets more than a 5% bump. So they engineered a promotion from entry level to mid level or something to finally justify it. Then 2013 I got another 10% bump and it's been all standard besides those.

Now when I google my current salary it's extremely close to the median $100,000 for a senior developer in my geographic area. The issue is I know personally how freakin valuable I am to this company cus we are very small and trying to expand. And it's literally me, another senior guy who's been there 20 years and another guy a lot like me who joined out of college who's been there 13 as the core programmers for multiple projects. I probably do 75% of the coding on three projects despite being on a team of four programmers there, and it's same way for those other guys. We have a ton of new business and keep hiring contractors and direct hires to try and keep up and they all suck so badly. 3/4s of the people we interview we won't even hire. I take part in the interviews. I have also seen the rates we pay for contractors and it's obscene. Obviously we aren't paying them benefits but their hourly rate is 2.5x mine. So just from a value standpoint I'm one of the most valuable employees there and my bosses lean on me heavily to get stuff done and they say so, they are appreciative and I always get good reviews.

Another thing going for me is my former boss said last year he wanted to do a department wide salary review and make sure we're all getting paid right ie raises, but we barely broke even last year so he couldn't swing it. So this year we are profitable and it might be possible, but I have a new boss I report to directly so not sure.

Then the other issue is that third guy of 13 years is quitting cus he wants another job for some reason, probably more pay, but everyone freaked out when he turned in his resignation and they asked to counter offer. If he ends up staying it's no secret he obviously got a raise to stay.

So here's my delima. If I show them salary info from online they'll say I'm adequately paid, but I see job postings online for a lot more as well. My company also has a history of underpaying. I was much more ok with this a few years ago as we had 100% employer paid health care back then but they changed it and now I pay $450 a month. It basically wipes out an entire year and a half of normal raises. But they probably won't care about that. I also know if the guy stays with his counter offer he got a big raise but I don't know if I should use that to negotiate cus I don't have another job lined up and I'm not serious about wanting to switch anyway.

I guess my pitch is going to be something along the lines of, look, you like me, you love my work, we have a lot of trouble finding good people and I think I deserve more. Why should we only get significant raises when under the threat of quitting? Shouldn't loyalty and performance be rewarded? Do right by me and I'll keep doing right by you and it would really motivate me to work even harder.

Idk it sounds kind of cheesy. What do you think? I'm looking for another 10-12% bump.

 

[Synobun]

Your salary should ideally take your workload into consideration. While your salary may be close to the median for your industry locally, it is likely that this becomes no longer true when your responsibilities are looked at.

There are some things to keep in mind. As you mention, the company is small and making a profit is something new to them. Your company likely has a dedicated budget for contractors, responsibilities that cannot be done in-house for whatever reason (sometimes as arbitrary as old corporate politicking).

The best tactic for getting the raise you want is to structure your argument in such a way that you're telling them why it's good for them instead of good for you. You mention that the workload is overwhelming and that the outsourcing lacks in quality (while possessing a hefty price tag). Is it possible for you to evolve your role in the business to take on outsourcing responsibilities in exchange for a significant raise? This would give you control over how much money and manpower is being wasted in the business, resulting in less work (and more money) for you and helps the company with expenditures.

Otherwise, since you're responsible for so much of the coding work and one of the only other effective devs is leaving, you're in a good position to argue that you want to stay but that the increasing workload is making it difficult for you to justify staying where you are. You can love your position as much as you want but this all matters very little when you are being overwhelmed, and this should be something HR can verify even if you haven't been keeping logs (you should do that, by the way). More money is an incentive for wading through rising waters so it eases their worries of more people joining the exodus while padding your pockets a little more comfortably at the same time.

Don't use the other developer's negotiations as a point in your own unless it becomes clear that your employers are screwing you over.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Your salary should ideally take your workload into consideration. While your salary may be close to the median for your industry locally, it is likely that this becomes no longer true when your responsibilities are looked at.

There are some things to keep in mind. As you mention, the company is small and making a profit is something new to them. Your company likely has a dedicated budget for contractors, responsibilities that cannot be done in-house for whatever reason (sometimes as arbitrary as old corporate politicking).

The best tactic for getting the raise you want is to structure your argument in such a way that you're telling them why it's good for them instead of good for you. You mention that the workload is overwhelming and that the outsourcing lacks in quality (while possessing a hefty price tag). Is it possible for you to evolve your role in the business to take on outsourcing responsibilities in exchange for a significant raise? This would give you control over how much money and manpower is being wasted in the business, resulting in less work (and more money) for you and helps the company with expenditures.

Otherwise, since you're responsible for so much of the coding work and one of the only other effective devs is leaving, you're in a good position to argue that you want to stay but that the increasing workload is making it difficult for you to justify staying where you are. You can love your position as much as you want but this all matters very little when you are being overwhelmed, and this should be something HR can verify even if you haven't been keeping logs (you should do that, by the way). More money is an incentive for wading through rising waters so it eases their worries of more people joining the exodus while padding your pockets a little more comfortably at the same time.

Don't use the other developer's negotiations as a point in your own unless it becomes clear that your employers are screwing you over.

Pay attention to this post ^^^^ It has lots of good advice. Figure out how you can make the business more profitable. Use that kind of info in your raise argument. Don't be greedy. Don't threaten.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Not stuck in a job that pays barely above minumum wage. I don't want to be in a job where I'm constantly lifting heavy objects that's beyond my lifting capacity (I'd rather do that at a gym where I'm not under pressure at work). Not chasing down products in a store that has "no location" or we don't have it, yet the damn customer ordered it and wants it. Ideally, I'd rather spend my time working with computers. Not programming them, but maintaining them. Even if skilled enough, a network of em.


Most of the activities I enjoy doing mainly revolves around computers. Mostly playing video games, working with Source Filmmaker, GIMP, and browsing the internet. I sill have a goal in mind to build my own gaming PC.


Mainly hands on


Sort of, since I've mentioned earlier I plan on building my own gaming PC in the future. Though each year I do go back and modify my plan a bit whenever new hardware/OS is released.


Both, but on the practical side (knowing history and liberal arts majors have poor job prospects), lean more on the science side. Math, I'm alright at algebra, but you can keep calculus.


I had my share with dealing with customers and really don't want to deal with them if there's gonna be an irate customer that would jepordize my job if they complain to the manager/supervisor. I don't mind friendly customers, I just don't want to risk my job to an irate customer.

Lately, I had contemplated on going into the IT field (I know it's a broad subject), relating to administering and/or maintaining computers. Though I gotten very much discouraged since:
A) I don't know where to start since my knowlage only comes from what I've read online or watched on YouTube.
B) I don't have any sort of certifications and very hesitant to spend any kind of money to be certified, only to fail on a test.
C) Most companies would rather want a young pup, not a 30 something.
D) Internships that I've seen on job boards like indeed.com are more geared towards college students who are still in school working on their degree. Not for career changers like myself (that is if I can even call it a career change when my own career hasent even gone off the ground since 2007).
E) Would it pay enough for me to have my own place before I turn into a 40 year old virgin?

If you want to work in ITand you don't have any real experience there, then I suggest that you go to a local computer/network/business support company (like this one that is in Albuquerque, but find one in your city). Tell them that you want to learn and that you will work hard to do so. You can get a broad base of experience in such a place.

You need skills and experience and you will have to start at the bottom to get them in a tech field.

 

[Leonel]

Nice attitude.

Other people seem to manage that just fine. The trick is to multi-task. If you volunteer somewhere, it should not be for 40 hours a week. An internship should not be 40 hours a week. You do something that pays the bills while you work towards specialization in something. The more experience you possess in a specific skill, the more authority you control in terms of salary and whether or not someone would want to hire you.

Of course, you can be as talented as you want to be and it won't matter if the moment someone provides a suggestion to you your response is to say you should lie and claim disability so you can just not bother with the whole thing.

Exactly. It is a sucky Catch-22 where you can't get a job without the experience and you can't get the experience without the job BUT unpaid internships were how I got enough experience to get a full-time job in the first place. I did an internship at the Oregon Zoo for about 6 months but for most of the time, I worked a temp job to make money.

Doesn't change the fact that I think all internships should ALL pay some kind of compensation.

 

[Synobun]

If you want to work in ITand you don't have any real experience there, then I suggest that you go to a local computer/network/business support company (like this one that is in Albuquerque, but find one in your city). Tell them that you want to learn and that you will work hard to do so. You can get a broad base of experience in such a place.

You need skills and experience and you will have to start at the bottom to get them in a tech field.

Many cities have non-profit organizations that accept volunteers. You don't get paid, but you do gain experience. They are perfect for people who are just starting out in the maintenance side of IT. In Vancouver, there is an organization called Free Geek which you can volunteer at. You do things ranging from electronic recycling, refurbishment, building computers, cleaning parts, and eventually direct customer service once you're knowledgeable enough. You gain IT experience, make connections, learn many skills (some that aren't taught in certification courses or schools), and more. Free Geek in particular gives you a discount at their store and a free computer (or a $50 gift card). Other companies will vary in what they do, but the gaining of experience and connections is fairly universal.

CivG, your answer was fairly simplistic and I don't feel you did a lot of thought over that line of action. Or, if you did, you're not expressing it very well to us. Getting your A+ is a good starting point but a certification by itself is rarely valuable unless it's highly specialized. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that companies do not care about your starting age in IT. How much you get paid is dependent on what you're doing and the lifestyle you're expecting to live. If you expect to have a mortgage and a nice car on an entry level IT gig... no. If you expect something a hair over minimum wage that lets you live with roommates... yes, that is more than doable.

You mentioned that you hate dealing with irate customers, but for someone who missed the "doing this in school through the power of federal loans" bus it may end up being that you need to do help desk work to gain experience along with a more specialized internship or volunteering program doing something else. Look at hospitals, clinics, and factories in particular. They often take on interns and many schools (or rather, the professors) neglect to connect their students with internships in the area.

Exactly. It is a sucky Catch-22 where you can't get a job without the experience and you can't get the experience without the job BUT unpaid internships were how I got enough experience to get a full-time job in the first place. I did an internship at the Oregon Zoo for about 6 months but for most of the time, I worked a temp job to make money.

Doesn't change the fact that I think all internships should ALL pay some kind of compensation.

This is a lot how it worked for me as well. The only reason I got a job at a magazine is because I did an (unpaid) internship with another one. I'm also a believer in that internships should always be paid, but reality trumps belief in most instances. You make do with the situation you're in. If you can make an unpaid internship work... do it. The experience and possible connections may very well end up being invaluable.

 

[rah]

Most companies will pay a person as little as possible. The fist promo is a gimme. But what's the old joke. 20% of nothing is nothing.
Maybe the second promo is easy if you're really good. But after that, most of the time the only way to get a decent raise is to leave.
The company I work for has changed hands a few times but I originally started here back in the late 70's. Got a quick promo but was quickly underpaid. So I left, for a good chunk of change. And then I came back after an offer of over a 50% increase. Later I left again. But I"m back after getting offered an upper level position for big bucks. That's how you beat that crappy HR prescribed annual increase.

The best way to be appreciated is to not be working there. It's not like the old days where a company took care of you from cradle to grave. You must look at it the same.


On internships, unless they're short and really just a longer full time job interview, forget about them.

 

[civvver]

Your salary should ideally take your workload into consideration. While your salary may be close to the median for your industry locally, it is likely that this becomes no longer true when your responsibilities are looked at.

There are some things to keep in mind. As you mention, the company is small and making a profit is something new to them. Your company likely has a dedicated budget for contractors, responsibilities that cannot be done in-house for whatever reason (sometimes as arbitrary as old corporate politicking).

The best tactic for getting the raise you want is to structure your argument in such a way that you're telling them why it's good for them instead of good for you. You mention that the workload is overwhelming and that the outsourcing lacks in quality (while possessing a hefty price tag). Is it possible for you to evolve your role in the business to take on outsourcing responsibilities in exchange for a significant raise? This would give you control over how much money and manpower is being wasted in the business, resulting in less work (and more money) for you and helps the company with expenditures.

Actually it's a humongous company, it's my department that is small. We launched a new product last year that had a lot of r&d costs which we haven't recovered yet, hence why we lost money as a department. But we typically make a small margin of profit.

The reasons we hire contractors is essentially red tape. We have a lot of engineering and r&d work to do but it hasn't realized sales yet so corporate will not approve head count increases, but they do understand we are being innovative with growth potential so they are willing to hire contractors. In the end it's actually quite dumb because the majority of our contractors have been here over two years. It would've been cheaper to just hire them outright.

Otherwise, since you're responsible for so much of the coding work and one of the only other effective devs is leaving, you're in a good position to argue that you want to stay but that the increasing workload is making it difficult for you to justify staying where you are. You can love your position as much as you want but this all matters very little when you are being overwhelmed, and this should be something HR can verify even if you haven't been keeping logs (you should do that, by the way). More money is an incentive for wading through rising waters so it eases their worries of more people joining the exodus while padding your pockets a little more comfortably at the same time.

Don't use the other developer's negotiations as a point in your own unless it becomes clear that your employers are screwing you over.

Yes that was pretty much how I was going to try and approach it. I'm not even looking for anything that huge, not talking about promotions and 50% increases here. I'll let you know how it works out. I'm waiting until open enrollment time as pay affects the costs of your benefits packages here.

 

[GenMarshall]

CivG, your answer was fairly simplistic and I don't feel you did a lot of thought over that line of action. Or, if you did, you're not expressing it very well to us.

What more do you want?! I answered the questions and that should suffice? Do you want me to divulge my whole life story to you?

If you expect to have a mortgage and a nice car on an entry level IT gig... no. If you expect something a hair over minimum wage that lets you live with roommates... yes, that is more than doable.

Again, I expect a wage that's sustainable. I don't want a hair over minumum wage because it's not enough to live off off and I'd have to work multiple jobs to earn an equivalent to US$20/hr day. What I expect at this point in my life is earning a decent wage at a full time job at my own place, not living in my parent's basement with a hair over minumum wage job at Big Box Mart and playing catch up after losing a decade of my job life in the Great Recession. Somehow I doubt you understand or grasp my situation that I need a good paying full time job and that I'm sick of living in my parent's basement and want my own place. I'm 30 something, not 20 something or a teenager. I need a job with a salary I can live off of, not suck in a part time job and going into internships or volunteering (Neather of the two would pay anyway). I don't have time for volunteering or internships as it is since my clock is running, again I'm 30 something, not 20 something or a teenager.

You keep on mentioning specialization and I very much disagree in that regard that people should specialize and I don't want to overspecialize. Which is something I'm interpreting in your message. Just look at what happened during and after the Great Recession when people lost their jobs and cannot find jobs related to their specialization. Many had to go through the painful process of starting over in their careers or just gave up and became discouraged.

You mentioned that you hate dealing with irate customers, but for someone who missed the "doing this in school through the power of federal loans" bus it may end up being that you need to do help desk work to gain experience along with a more specialized internship or volunteering program doing something else. Look at hospitals, clinics, and factories in particular. They often take on interns and many schools (or rather, the professors) neglect to connect their students with internships in the area.

I'll pass on the volunteering/internships. They don't pay anything.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Success in a new job begins with three things and if you cannot manage these three you will be looking for a new one soon.

1. Showing up on time and being ready to work
2. Being able to do the job you were hired for in the manner expected by the company
3. Having a positive attitude about being at your job

You need the first two to survive your probationary period and stay employed. You need the third to get promoted, get raises and be liked by management. If you do not show a positive attitude, you will be stuck where you are and added to the "fire when we can" list.

 

[Synobun]

What more do you want?! I answered the questions and that should suffice? Do you want me to divulge my whole life story to you?

Just a little more than "I've done a lot of thought into this and have decided that maybe I could do IT sorta kinda if I got my A+ but I don't really want to get my A+". What is your plan? Let's assume you're serious about IT. That's great! But... what are you doing to facilitate that career path? Are you doing anything?

Again, I expect a wage that's sustainable. I don't want a hair over minumum wage because it's not enough to live off off and I'd have to work multiple jobs to earn an equivalent to US$20/hr day. What I expect at this point in my life is earning a decent wage at a full time job at my own place, not living in my parent's basement with a hair over minumum wage job at Big Box Mart and playing catch up after losing a decade of my job life in the Great Recession. Somehow I doubt you understand or grasp my situation that I need a good paying full time job and that I'm sick of living in my parent's basement and want my own place. I'm 30 something, not 20 something or a teenager. I need a job with a salary I can live off of, not suck in a part time job and going into internships or volunteering (Neather of the two would pay anyway). I don't have time for volunteering or internships as it is since my clock is running, again I'm 30 something, not 20 something or a teenager.

Quite frankly, what you want is irrelevant and your hang-ups over your age are your problem and not anyone else's. I respect you, man. I've known you since I've joined, you're a notable figure on this site. When the discussion is something you're adept in, you're a great contributor. Nothing I'm saying is out of disrespect or otherwise wagging my finger at you. Literally not a single soul besides yourself cares one iota about your age or your hang-ups over becoming a "40 year old virgin" as you self-pityingly described yourself. Flat out. Your problems are your problems. A workplace will not and cannot care or cater to them. That is solely your responsibility.

The issue in this subject is that everyone keeps going in a circle about it with you because you're simply not willing to do what it takes in order to get what you want. How many times have you posted here lamenting over your job choices and wanting to change? How many times has your answer been "Nah, not doing that," to what we say? It's not even that you can't do what we're suggesting, you're just... saying no. And saying no is completely alright... if you have an alternative. You don't. Where does that leave you?

You want a good, well-paying job at your current age. That's fine. We all want to be accomplished and to be in a sustainable career. Wanting things is peachy. We should all want things. As I asked above, what are you doing to achieve these things you want? From where I'm sitting, it's nothing (hence my point about you not expressing yourself very well if that's not the case).

You don't want to live with your parents. You want to get set on a career path. Fantastic. Let's do that. Very rarely does someone go from their parents' home to owning their own home alone. I know people in their 50s who have roommates. I used to live with 5 other people who were past retirement age. You're probably going to live with other people for at least 5 more years unless you get lucky. The question you need to ask is which do you prefer most while you work on yourself: living with the devil you know (parents), or branching out into more independence with the devil's second cousin (strangers)? You're going to live with someone; you need to pick which side which help you achieve your goals more effectively.

Next, you want a well-paying job that is more career-oriented. You mentioned IT. Okay! What experience do you have in IT? What are your qualifications? Why should you get a well-paying job in IT? Because you want it? That's not an enticing reason. Pretend we're all employers. Why should we pick you? There are dozens of people who claim themselves to be IT wizards any time we interview someone, what makes you so special? Why are you the right choice?

Based on what you've shared with us, you expect mid-tier salary for less-than-bottom tier experience. That's not going to happen barring extraordinary nepotism. So the onus is on you on making this happen. Such as by acquiring the experience necessary to get the wage you feel you need. So I'll ask again... if you are serious about wanting to pursue IT, what do you want to do and what is your plan? If you don't have anything solid, that's fine, we can all help, but you have to give us something to work with on that front. What does CivG want to do in the world of IT? How does he want to do it?

You keep on mentioning specialization and I very much disagree in that regard that people should specialize and I don't want to overspecialize. Which is something I'm interpreting in your message. Just look at what happened during and after the Great Recession when people lost their jobs and cannot find jobs related to their specialization. Many had to go through the painful process of starting over in their careers or just gave up and became discouraged.

How many jobs can you list that are well-paying and stable that don't require specialized knowledge and experience of any kind?

Your last sentence is not a counterargument to specialization. Just a reality of an evolving world. I'm sure horse trainers were very peeved when the automobile came around.

I'll pass on the volunteering/internships. They don't pay anything.

Your choice, my friend. Just know you're consciously sabotaging yourself by making a decision like this. The room you have to complain becomes claustrophobic with choices like that.

 

[Leonel]

This is a lot how it worked for me as well. The only reason I got a job at a magazine is because I did an (unpaid) internship with another one. I'm also a believer in that internships should always be paid, but reality trumps belief in most instances. You make do with the situation you're in. If you can make an unpaid internship work... do it. The experience and possible connections may very well end up being invaluable.

The best part is you don't have to work 5 days a week at an internship either. I did two days a week for 3-4 hours but as long as my time at my internship started at the end of March and ended in the middle of September, every place I applied still counted it for 7 months experience. You could probably even work a full-time job and then do an internship for 4-8 hours on one weekend day. There's no national standard at least in the US. I even tried to argue with someone about it "Well I only started at the end of the month and it's the beginning of the month now!" and they were like "We still look at that as this amount of months."

 

[Hygro]

In the end, businesses are about institutionalizing a process that creates a product people want. Those in charge of managing the institution just want people they want to be around. "I already tried being more likable!" well, never ever stop trying. Actually trying.

 

[IglooDame]

Lately, I had contemplated on going into the IT field (I know it's a broad subject), relating to administering and/or maintaining computers. Though I gotten very much discouraged since:
A) I don't know where to start since my knowlage only comes from what I've read online or watched on YouTube.
B) I don't have any sort of certifications and very hesitant to spend any kind of money to be certified, only to fail on a test.
C) Most companies would rather want a young pup, not a 30 something.
D) Internships that I've seen on job boards like indeed.com are more geared towards college students who are still in school working on their degree. Not for career changers like myself (that is if I can even call it a career change when my own career hasent even gone off the ground since 2007).
E) Would it pay enough for me to have my own place before I turn into a 40 year old virgin?

You do realize that you can actually learn enough to get a cert just by having a decent computer that will run a VMware player or GNS3 and going through Youtube videos? Yes, at the end you will have to pay a hundred dollars plus to take a cert exam. He who will not risk, cannot win. If I was hiring entry-level, I'd expect to see the candidate actively working toward a cert, or demonstrably making some other effort to get up to speed. Your goal is to build a gaming PC, okay - have you ever built any PC from parts? Do you know HTML? Can you build a web server on a Linux box? Can you log into a switch or router and do basic configuration on it? Do you know the difference between SMTP and POP3, and can you look at an email bounceback and figure out what/where the problem is?

None of those (except for actually building a PC) requires money. Time, effort, initiative, and whatever PC you're using to run GIMP or play Civ is all that is required.

 

[really]

https://careers.ryanair.com/search/#job/5b532
In case anyone is interested

 

[Birdjaguar]

https://careers.ryanair.com/search/#job/5b532
In case anyone is interested

Great ad. I would apply if i were younger, Irish?, a soccer fan, needed a job, was an accountant.